


TARBOY

by Space_Kuruk



Category: TARBOY, Tarboy (Short Film)
Genre: Action, All other characters have made-up names, Explosions, Fan Interpretation, Gen, SHUT UP BILLY, Wow I have the only TARBOY fic, Yay I'm slightly above mediocre, b/c only two actually have names, some aren't as important though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 00:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8644453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Kuruk/pseuds/Space_Kuruk
Summary: Do you want to hear about a REAL hero?





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, or have any suggestions on how to improve this work OR IF THERE ARE GRAMMAR MISTAKES, please go ahead and say so :3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old (robot) man moves out.

HUMANITY HAS CREATED TRUE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ROBOTS THAT COULD THINK AND FEEL AT A HUMAN LEVEL, MACHINES WITH SOULS. AFTER WAR BROKE OUT, (BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS IN MOST CASES) MANKIND WAS DRIVEN TO EXTINCTION, BOTH BY ROBOTS AND THEMSELVES. WEAPONS THAT UTILIZES CHEMICALS AND RADIATION DIDN'T AFFECT EVEN THE WEAKEST ROBOT AND ENDED UP DOING MORE HARM TO THE FRAIL BIOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCES, AND THE MACHINES' ABILITY TO WORK AND FIGHT TIRELESSLY BOTH METAPHORICALLY AND LITERALLY RAN EVERY LAST PERSON INTO THE GROUND.

FROM THE ASHES OF ONE CIVILIZATION ROSE ANOTHER. THE SURVIVING ROBOTS IMMEDIATELY BEGAN WORKING TOWARDS A UTOPIAN SOCIETY. THEY WERE ABLE TO WORK AROUND THE CLOCK, DAY TO DAY, EVERY DAY. THERE WERE MACHINES OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES, BUILT FOR DIFFERENT JOBS AND SPECIALTIES; CONSTRUCTION, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, ACCOUNTING, ET CETERA. HOWEVER, AS THE POPULATION ROSE RESOURCES USED TO BUILD ROBOTS BECAME SCARCE. CURRENCY, LONG CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MANY EVILS THAT MADE MANKIND SO CORRUPT, WAS RELUCTANTLY ESTABLISHED...

  


  


  


    "Fah, damned weather!" It was raining in one of the many smog-ridden cities built hundreds of years after the Great War. An elderly bot with a coppery brazen body, one eye, a cane in hand, and some tarnishing in the ol' kneejoints went back inside his humble little apartment to retrieve his umbrella, going up an old elevator. His other eye was a metal bit that looked like the symbol on the no smoking or no parking signs, and on the sides of his head were metal antennae used for hearing (but were bent out of shape, making conversation slightly difficult). He picked up his umbrella out of the box of items he decided to leave beind, and as soon as he pushed it open, he was reminded of the gaping hole caused by a fall he had a couple of weeks prior.

    With a groan and a small curse at how cheaply made everything was nowadays, he decided to just try and get to his car as quickly as possible. The old robot took the slightly shaky elevator back down and started a brisk pace towards the parking lot. He slid a couple of times due to the wet pavement and the worn-down patterns on the underside of his feet made for traction, but safely arrived at his car, which was also loaded with his personal belongings. After some frustration getting the archaic machinery to actually start, he revved up the engine and headed out of town.

    He was moving in with his daughter, Lilith. The robot, past his golden years, was unable to financially support himself. His insurance denied him the money he earned through years of labor, something about only having access to it in case of an accident or something of that nature. When his child (now an adult with a family of her own) caught wind of this, she insisted repeatedly that he moved in with them, lest he be scrapped. Months'-worth of a guilt trip finally made him give in and start packing. Although, it wasn't all bad. The only thing hurting right now was the small amount of pride the old-timer had.

    Speaking of which, it was about time he called. The bot picked up his cellular, typing in the number. It started to ring. As he waited, he gazed down at his joints, which made subtle creaking noises. Robots are designed specifically with an undefined expiration date. The lack of cheap resources meant that all materials were valuable, even those of a dead fellow machine. As a result, everybody who died was scrapped shortly after being given a funeral. Otherwise, everything would get more and more expensive to the point that everyone was bankrupt. Well, almost everyone...

    "Dad? You there?" The elder had zoned out to the point that he ignored his daughter on the other end of the line entirely. With a chuckle of slight embarrassment, he finally replied.

"Hello there sweetheart. How's my little girl?"

"Everything is fine here dad. You have everything you need, right?"

"Yes." The bot rolled his one eye. This wasn't the first time she asked this question. For weeks he kept making excuses not to live with her at the time, mostly saying that he "forgot something", going back into his apartment and sleeping, only for him to wake up and get an antennaful of Lilith's chastising.

The two talked for a while, chatting about each other's day until the subject went to Lilith's son."So how's Billy doing? Behaving himself I hope." He made a lighthearted chuckle. In reality, Billy was a very nice and honest boy, but his grandfather liked to joke about how he was a 'little rascal'.

"Speak of the devil, here he is." Lilith's voice sounded a tiny bit distant, as she had turned her head to Billy coming home from school with Jacob, her husband and Billy's dad, naturally. Jacob immediately plopped onto the sofa, having had a looong day at work. Billy ran up to his mother and hugged her. Having already known that his cool grandad would be living with them, Billy spoke up."Are you on the phone with Grampa Mackey?" he asked with a smile. His mom nodded and handed him the phone, knowing her son too well to know the next question he'd ask was to talk with his grandfather. 

Billy excitedly started asking about Grampa's day while simultaneously talking about his own. Mackey tried to get the other to calm down a bit, but clearly the boy was hyped about him coming to live with them. Hell, it was said the kid sometimes appeared out of nowhere at the mention of "Grandpa Mackey". When he was younger and more able, he'd come over anytime he could, bringing Billy with him on these crazy little vacations and adventures. Thanks to Mackey, Billy got to see and do things that, frankly, his parents had no time for. At least they tried to have family time.

Just then, Mackey's call was stopped and the voice of his grandson was replaced by an automated woman's voice.

"We're sorry to interrupt your call, but your account has expired. You may make calls again when you restore your account." Damn phone bills...  


  



	2. Story Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do you want to hear about a REAL hero?

    Grampa Mackey was sitting in a padded rocking chair that he had from his old home, watching TV with Billy. The channel was set on a cartoon that - in all honesty - was pretty ridiculous, but it kept his grandson settled near his bedtime.

    It was a peaceful evening with clear night skies. Well, as clear as a polluted city's sky could get. At least the few brighter stars were showing. As much as Mackey was thankful that smog didn't have any detrimental effects on robots, he wishes to see the unique blue and dozens of little sparkling lights that made up the heavens in his youth to appear again. He turned his attention from the nearby window to a jar full of black, viscous fluid he brought with him. He remembered when-

    Once again yanked out of his own little world, the phone was beeping from the kitchen. Mackey grabbed the arm of the chair and his cane, using both as support, struggling a bit to get up. "I'll get it!" Billy exclaimed, springing to his feet and half-running to pick up the phone from its stand. Mackey shrugged and sat back down in the chair, letting Billy take the call. However, as the conversation continued, he couldn't help but notice the child's change in tone.

    "Hello? Hi mom!…I'm doing great, me and grampa are watching TV…What? Why?…." It became unusually quiet, Mackey only being able to hear Lilith's voice, but not what she was saying. He guessed that she and her husband both had to work overtime. The conversation went on. "Well, will you be here in time to read to me before bed?…Oh, okay…Yeah, I understand…Love you too mom…" Billy sighed as he hung up, and so did Mackey. This is the reason he didn't want to be supported by his daughter, he was becoming a burden. The couple had to work extra hard to keep his useless rustbucket around, and they were already paying everything else you might expect in a normal household. This has been going on for weeks, maybe a couple of months, the hours always getting longer, leaving less time for family. Mackey stood up again as Billy returned, looking glum."Well, what's the verdict?" Mackey asked, breaking the depressing silence.

    "Mom and Dad have to work extra late again…and she says it's bedtime." Billy answered. Even though he was upset about how his family couldn't spend as much time together, he was saddened most by the fact that now they were working so much that storytime had to be taken out of the schedule, the last thing that his parents could still make time for. This had gone on for a while now.

    Mackey couldn't stand to see the child upset, especially knowing that at least in part he was the cause. "How about another story then?" It wasn't much, but at least it was something. He had been telling stories to Billy whenever his parents had extra hours.

    Billy's eyes lit up a bit and his smile returned. "Yeah, sounds great!"

"Well, get ready for bed, and pick something out to read."

 

    After the kid was all settled in, Mackey walked in Billy's bedroom with his cane and sat on a small stool next to the bed. It was a simple room, with a few toys laying around, some stuff for Billy to draw with, and a couple of lamps. One near the bed was lit.

    "So, what are we reading tonight?" Mackey asked. Almost before he could finish the question he was handed a book; 'ADVENTURE BOT AND THE MAGIC CRYSTAL'. The old machine mentally groaned, it was always the same book. It WAS Billy's favorite after all, but Mackey thinks that if he read this one more time he'd be the one falling asleep. With a sigh he wondered if they could skip storytime for a night, but looking up at the kid's hopeful face made his circuits ache. However, thinking about reading the same thing over and over again made his head ache instead. 

    Then the old man had an idea, smiling and standing up with his cane as support. Billy noticed a gleam in his grandfather's one eye.

 

 

_"Let me tell you about a real hero my boy. His name is TarBoy, nothing like you've ever seen before. Once there were these rich fatcats Grunt, Blunt, and C-uh, I forgot the last one. You see, they ruled the world with their greed, their slaves worked day and night in the mines."_

_"Doing what?"_

_"Working! They clinked and they clanked, and they pushed and they pulled! Their limbs kept rusting and their joints were sore! They clinked and they clanked, and they pushed and they pulled, and they worked and they worked!"_

_"Gosh."_

_"Until one day..."_

 

 

    A bot wearing what appeared to be an average suit and tie walked down a long hallway, carrying a black rectangular briefcase. On his head was black, tidy artificial hair. Between his teeth was a lit cigarette. The sterotypical businessman type. Cigarettes were a sort of expensive status symbol, since tobacco plants became rare without humans to grow them. The path had a linoleum floor so smooth and clean you could see another's reflection from quite a distance.

    Following along was a ladybot in a professional-looking khaki tux dress. She had magnetic diamond earrings attached to the sides of her head, just beneath her plastic antennae, which pointed up and behind from her. Her head was also covered in long artificial hair, dark brown and in a tight bun. She had a pair of glasses, entirely for appearances. They were colleagues, both invited for a special meeting. The two entered the elevator, with fake oak walls and a navy blue floor. As the smoker adjusted his tie and pressed the button that would take them to the top floor, the ladybot spoke up. "So, did you hear anything about this meeting, Yates?" The other shrugged, looking at his watch. "Just that I'd earn more cash, that's usually enough to convince me."

    As they went up, the elevator made several stops, more and more of the higher-ups like the first two bots coming aboard. They all seemed to be here for the same reason. When the ladybot leaned over to Yates and muttered a question as to why they were all here, his only response was "Grunt, Blunt, and that other guy must be pretty excited about this..."

 

    Yates and the other robots streamed out of the slightly crowded elevator once it reached the second-to-highest floor, heading toward a large meeting room with glass walls and windows. The room had a large oval table in it's center. Transparent doors slid open as the group approached, everyone soon taking seats. They were a few minutes early, so most of the bots made idle conversation to pass the time. Yates and a few others just made some calls, talking to whoever about whatever. As he tossed his burnt-out cigarette and lit another, the lights in the room dimmed to nothing and the glass that made up the sides of the room became opaque. An almost eerie silence fell. Everyone scooted a bit closer to the center table.

    After a short moment the glass doors slid open, the bright lights outside the room revealing three silhouettes. Nobody could believe who it was, some staring in subtle awe, and even a hint of fear. If contacted, these guys would contact you indirectly, or (rarely) video chat in meetings if something was important. Now here they are, in the metal. The first to come in was Blunt himself, a short and stocky robot. Although he was eye level with everyone who was sitting, they still felt like being stared down. Second was Grunt, a robot not much taller than Yates, but certainly a lot bigger. With broad shoulders, thick arms, and huge hands clenched into fists, you wouldn't want to mess with him. Completing the infamous trio was a tall and unusually thin bot, nicknamed 'Mr. C' , slender hands clasped behind his back as he loomed over those summoned for the meeting.

    On the back wall was a projected image, and the three fatcats took their seats facing away from the only source of light in the room. Blunt spoke first, starting introduction. 

    "We're very glad you're all here today. In case you didn't know, production by the Servantry has been exponentially declining over the past seven years."

    The thin bot started talking as well, though nobody would have heard him if it weren't for the quietness of the room. "The demand-supply ratio has been rather unstable in our markets as of late."

    "And there have been an increasing number in uprisings since January." Grunt added. "Soon our labor forces will become obsolete, and production will cease."

Blunt reached for a button on the keyboard. "Which is why we've been developing this…"

 

**Author's Note:**

> Critique is always appreciated, just be polite about it! Mmm'kay?


End file.
